You are here
Death
Quick revise
Cremation is the 16th & final samskara.
Dead bodies are washed, clothed in a new shroud and taken to a funeral pyre for cremation.
The eldest son walks around the pyre with a lighted torch to prevent the soul returning to Earth as a ghost.
He pours ghee on the pyre as an offering to Agni the fire god.
The heat of the fire makes the skull crack and it is believed that at this point the Atman escapes.

